In today’s society the fear of eating cholesterol is rampant. Drug companies have cashed in on this mass hysteria and now 1 out of every 3 people are taking cholesterol lowering medications. This is abhorable! Cholesterol is not the bad guy. In fact, cholesterol is a precursor to testosterone and most of it synthetic derivatives. Cholesterol is converted into the precursor pregnenolone, which is converted into three additional intermediate molecules, 17-hydroxypregnenolone–Dehydroepiandrostreone–Androstenediol. The ultimate result of this conversion sequence is Testosterone. Testosterone is one the anabolic agents associated with protein synthesis and muscle growth. Testosterone, once produced, does not have a long life span in the body. Testosterone is absorbed in the prostate, seminal vesicles, kidneys, skeletal muscle, liver, and binding factors such as plasma proteins albumin and sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG). So as you can there are many pathways that testosterone can be diverted to. Natural testosterone last life span of ten to twenty minutes. This is why athletes and body builders take injectable testosterone. They can keep testosterone processing in the blood for hours. For the natural person, however, we must figure out ways to boost testosterone by staying within healthy and safe parameters.
To keep seeing changes in the muscle it is important to eat and exercise correctly to increase the natural production of testosterone. Women have less testosterone then men and find it harder to metabolize off excess fat. They are taught that cardiovascular exercise ONLY is the way to burning off fat. They don’t activate enough testosterone in their body because most women are afraid of eating food, let alone cholesterol. When in fact most women should be eating good cholesterol because it is the precursor to hormone production. Hormones help regulate all the systems of the body. Imbalances in hormones only produce dysfunction to the regulatory systems of the body. Hence the reason why so many people are over fat. They are told to reduce their cholesterol. They take medications to lower cholesterol. Now the body is being deprogrammed of its cholesterol manufacturing ability and this alters normal hormone production. There is a small population that actually needs cholesterol medication, but I don’t feel that 1 out of every 3 people is necessary. I body build and when I got my cholesterol checked it was considered higher than the normal range (160 rather than 140). It is high because as a body builder I need the extra cholesterol to help support my testosterone levels so that I can activate and grow more muscle. How dumb would it be to take a drug to lower my cholesterol when I need it. Intense training warrants the need for more cholesterol. This is why eggs are a superior food. Because they carry enough good cholesterol to supply the damaged muscle tissue with fat, protein and cholesterol. Keeping the production of good cholesterol going throughout the day will boost the anabolic properties. It is not wise to exclude cholesterol from your nutrition intake. Take away cholesterol from the diet and your body will have adverse effects.
Daryl Conant, M.Ed
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